Treasurer Joe Hockey has warned Australians he may be forced to take "emergency action" and deliver Queensland-style austerity if structural budget reforms are not made.
And Mr Hockey has also suggested the proposed increase in fuel excise will not affect the less well off as much as high and middle income earners because "the poorest people either don't have cars or actually don't drive very far in many cases”.
And despite criticism over the government’s proposed changes over the pension, the Treasurer has also suggested "in net terms out of the budget, it is strongly arguable that pensioners are going to be better off" because the inflation rate is higher than average male weekly earnings at present.
The comments came after a meeting the Treasurer had with Palmer United Party leader Clive Palmer on Tuesday night to discuss the budget.
Following the meeting, Mr Hockey has also given the clearest signal yet that he is personally willing to compromise with the Senate crossbench on some of the budget's most contentious measures such as the $7 GP fee.
After criss-crossing the country for the past two weeks to meet the Senate crossbench, Mr Hockey pressed his case for structural reform in an interview on ABC local radio in Brisbane and said "everyone is being slugged" in the budget.
"What we are now at is the point where we are building the structural changes in the budget such as the copayment in Medicare, such as the higher education changes and some of the welfare changes,'' he said.
"Those structural reforms ensure that we have a trajectory on debt that is $300 billion less than what it would be if we went about business as usual.
"Either we make the decisions now or you end up doing what [Premier] Campbell Newman and [Treasurer] Tim Nicholls have had to do in Queensland, and that is take emergency action in order to address the problem you inherit.
''I am warning the people of Australia that if we do not take action now we are going to end up paying up $3 billion a month in interest alone."
TREASURER Joe Hockey today argued his fuel tax increases weren’t unfair to low income earners because they couldn’t afford to own cars anyway.
Mr Hockey said the Budget measure, which Labor, the Greens and some crossbench senators oppose, was “progressive” because the rich would be paying most of the revenue from the fuel index rises.
Mr Hockey said on ABC radio “the people that actually pay the most are higher income people, with an increase in fuel excise and yet, the Labor Party and the Greens are opposing it”.
“They say you’ve got to have wealthier people or middle-income people pay more.
“Well, change to the fuel excise does exactly that; the poorest people either don’t have cars or actually don’t drive very far in many cases. But, they are opposing what is meant to be, according to the Treasury, a progressive tax.”
Needless to say his comments have been ridiculed online.
Where I work, base level employees (some very low paid, some very high paid) do shift work across a 7/24 roster, i.e. must always drive. Their immediate supervisors do the same.
One level of management up, it's a nominal 8ish-5ish M-F job at an industrial site. There are public transport options for some of these sites. But most of them are far from even minor population centres. In either case, the vast majority of these 'managers' self-drive.
Above them, jobs are at a regional or head office site in a big city. Minor white-collar flunkies commute on buses and trains. Middle-management and up get car allowances and paid-for (or at least subsidised) CBD parking.
Personally, I don't mind any of this--I've worked back and forth across all of the levels mentioned, over a couple of different 'careers'.
But the idea that renewed fuel tax indexation, dropped into this very typical ASX200 environment, will somehow be "progressive taxation" is simply ludicrous.
That doesn't mean it's a bad tax measure altogether, Joe. As a "direct-action" carbon tax, it seems to tick a lot of boxes. But don't insult my intelligence by pretending that it is progressive, except in an accidental-few cases.
Taxing energy is toxic. The quickest way to decimate business.
Let me assure you that this isn't one of those shady pyramid schemes that you've been hearing about. No sir, our model is the Trapezoid which guarantees each investor an 800% return within hours. Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. "It's an itchy blanket, it's designed to remind you how lucky you are"
After the mining boom, real estate is the number 1 and only pillar industry in this unlucky country.
I guess what Hocky repeatedly implies is the imminent housing bubble prick and the insufficient $380 billion bailout fund to the banking system...
Getting rid of negative gearing could be a better solution to deflate the housing bubble in a less destructive way. However, the politicians and the RBA officials are so much self-vested and addicated to the mirage of fortune to themselves...
Wow, it's a good thing they got rid of that dangerous and destructive carbon tax and replaced it with an increase in fuel excise! We wouldn't want to tax energy now.
------------------------------ " ... which is that all-too-familiar dynamic in Irish life where people tell lies, cover them up and create all sorts of collateral damage, sometimes spread out over decades, and never take responsibility." - Alan Glynn
Australian Property Forum is an economics and finance forum dedicated to discussion of Australian and global real estate markets and macroeconomics, including house prices, housing affordability, and the likelihood of a property crash. Is there an Australian housing bubble? Will house prices crash, boom or stagnate? Is the Australian property market a pyramid scheme or Ponzi scheme? Can house prices really rise forever? These are the questions we address on Australian Property Forum, the premier real estate site for property bears, bulls, investors, and speculators. Members may also discuss matters related to finance, modern monetary theory (MMT), debt deflation, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin Ethereum and Ripple, property investing, landlords, tenants, debt consolidation, reverse home equity loans, the housing shortage, negative gearing, capital gains tax, land tax and macro prudential regulation.
Forum Rules:
The main forum may be used to discuss property, politics, economics and finance, precious metals, crypto currency, debt management, generational divides, climate change, sustainability, alternative energy, environmental topics, human rights or social justice issues, and other topics on a case by case basis. Topics unsuitable for the main forum may be discussed in the lounge. You agree you won't use this forum to post material that is illegal, private, defamatory, pornographic, excessively abusive or profane, threatening, or invasive of another forum member's privacy. Don't post NSFW content. Racist or ethnic slurs and homophobic comments aren't tolerated. Accusing forum members of serious crimes is not permitted. Accusations, attacks, abuse or threats, litigious or otherwise, directed against the forum or forum administrators aren't tolerated and will result in immediate suspension of your account for a number of days depending on the severity of the attack. No spamming or advertising in the main forum. Spamming includes repeating the same message over and over again within a short period of time. Don't post ALL CAPS thread titles. The Advertising and Promotion Subforum may be used to promote your Australian property related business or service. Active members of the forum who contribute regularly to main forum discussions may also include a link to their product or service in their signature block. Members are limited to one actively posting account each. A secondary account may be used solely for the purpose of maintaining a blog as long as that account no longer posts in threads. Any member who believes another member has violated these rules may report the offending post using the report button.
Australian Property Forum complies with ASIC Regulatory Guide 162 regarding Internet Discussion Sites. Australian Property Forum is not a provider of financial advice. Australian Property Forum does not in any way endorse the views and opinions of its members, nor does it vouch for for the accuracy or authenticity of their posts. It is not permitted for any Australian Property Forum member to post in the role of a licensed financial advisor or to post as the representative of a financial advisor. It is not permitted for Australian Property Forum members to ask for or offer specific buy, sell or hold recommendations on particular stocks, as a response to a request of this nature may be considered the provision of financial advice.
Views expressed on this forum are not representative of the forum owners. The forum owners are not liable or responsible for comments posted. Information posted does not constitute financial or legal advice. The forum owners accept no liability for information posted, nor for consequences of actions taken on the basis of that information. By visiting or using this forum, members and guests agree to be bound by the Zetaboards Terms of Use.
This site may contain copyright material (i.e. attributed snippets from online news reports), the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such content is posted to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific, and social justice issues. This constitutes 'fair use' of such copyright material as provided for in section 107 of US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed for research and educational purposes only. If you wish to use this material for purposes that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Such material is credited to the true owner or licensee. We will remove from the forum any such material upon the request of the owners of the copyright of said material, as we claim no credit for such material.
Privacy Policy: Australian Property Forum uses third party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our site. These third party advertising companies may collect and use information about your visits to Australian Property Forum as well as other web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here: Google Advertising Privacy FAQ
Australian Property Forum is hosted by Zetaboards. Please refer also to the Zetaboards Privacy Policy